Associations Exist Between Inflammatory and Bone Biomarkers in Young Female Adults Following Acute High-Impact Exercise

Exercise generally elicits changes in bone and inflammatory biomarkers, but it is unclear if these changes are related. The purpose of this secondary analysis was to investigate associations between bone and inflammatory biomarkers before and after a single bout of high-intensity/impact exercise and post-exercise nutrition. In a repeated measures crossover design, 13 healthy, young adult females (age = 20.3 ± 2.3 y) performed high-intensity resistance and impact exercise followed by nutrient consumption (skim milk and an isoenergetic carbohydrate beverage). Venous blood was obtained pre-exercise, 15 min, 75 min, 24 h, and 48 h post-exercise. Serum bone biomarkers (cross-linked C-telopeptide of type I collagen [CTX], receptor activator of NF-κB ligand [RANKL], sclerostin [SOST], osteoprotegerin [OPG], total osteocalcin [OC]) and cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-α]) were measured. Separate linear mixed regression models were performed for each bone biomarker. There were significant associations between bone and inflammatory biomarkers, including CTX with TNF-α (positive) and IL-10 (negative), OPG with TNF-α (negative) and IL-10 (positive), RANKL with IL-6 (positive) and SOST with TNF-α (negative) and IL-10 (positive). Thus, relationships exist between inflammatory and bone biomarkers in the context of an exercise and nutrition stimulus, which may have implications for optimizing exercise recovery strategies.